eu turkey deal

ISTANBUL, May 23 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she had told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that his country needed a strong parliament and voiced concern over the Turkish parliament’s decision to strip lawmakers of immunity. The move by the parliament, in a final vote last Friday, is likely to sideline the pro-Kurdish

By Ece Toksabay ANKARA, May 12 – Turkey has fulfilled the required criteria for visa-free travel to Europe, Ankara’s minister for EU affairs said on Thursday, adding that postponing the deal unfairly was unacceptable – comments which could threaten a wider agreement on migrants. The minister, Volkan Bozkir, said Turkey would not change its counter-terrorism

ANKARA, May 11 – Turkey refused on Wednesday to make changes to its anti-terrorism laws demanded by Brussels, hardening Ankara’s position in a stand-off with the bloc over dealing with militants, migrants and travel. EU officials and rights groups have accused Turkey of using the broad anti-terror legislation to crush all dissent – though Ankara

By Paul Taylor BRUSSELS, May 1 – Despite deep public misgivings in some countries, the European Union will this week drive forward a plan to grant Turks visa-free travel to Europe as a reward for having reduced a flood of refugees and migrants into Europe to a trickle. The European Commission is set to declare

ANKARA, April 28 – Brawls between lawmakers from Turkey’s ruling AK Party and the pro-Kurdish opposition have delayed efforts to pass legislation on a migration deal with the European Union and parliament has been adjourned until Monday. Deputies threw punches, pushed and tried to restrain each other in the assembly late on Wednesday in a

By Ercan Gurses and Andreas Rinke GAZIANTEP, Turkey, April 24 – Germany is seeking the creation of “safe zones” to shelter refugees in Syria, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, an idea Turkey has long championed in the face of U.N. caution. Keeping refugees on the Syrian side of the border would help Brussels and Ankara, which hosts 2.7

The EU’s deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees and migrants is deeply flawed BY Owen Matthews For Ayla Agit, the deal signed in March between Europe and Turkey to stem the flow of migrants and refugees was a prayer answered. “Finally, we have a chance to get a new life in Germany!”

LESBOS, Greece, April 4 – Greece began returning migrants from the island of Lesbos to Turkey on Monday under a landmark European Union deal aimed at stopping the uncontrollable influx of migrants and refugees into Europe since last year. Under the EU-Turkey deal, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who enter

By Karolina Tagaris LESBOS, Greece, April 3 – Less than 24 hours before Greece is due to begin returning migrants to Turkey, little sign of preparation is evident on Lesbos, the island through which hundreds of thousands of people have poured into Europe since last year. More than 5,600 migrants have been registered on Greek

By Tulay Karadeniz and Dasha Afanasieva ANKARA, March 31 – Five days before Turkey is due to begin taking back illegal migrants from Greece under a deal with the European Union, neither side is fully ready, with officials scrambling to be able to make at least a symbolic start as new arrivals rise. Turkey agreed